1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to periodicals. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and system for managing information presented in periodicals by creating personalized indexes.
2. Background
One of the most difficult challenges for present day professionals is dealing with the information overload which accompanies keeping up to date on current events. A typical business person may have a schedule consumed with travel and work time. Staying current in a profession may be vital to success, yet is often very difficult to do. In an attempt to stay current, many readers turn to magazines, journals and periodicals (collectively termed xe2x80x98magazinesxe2x80x99) as a primary source of information. They provide current and expert information on an almost limitless number of topics.
Reading magazines alone, however, does not present a solution for the dilemma of information overload facing readers. The sheer volume of information provided in magazines often overwhelms a reader""s ability to process it. It is typical for a single magazine to include over one hundred articles, with a dozen or more directed to a single topic. Printed indices and tables of contents may themselves run for many pages. If a reader desires to receive current information, for example, on a particular person or company, he may find dozens references to that company or person indexed within a single magazine. Often the reader must dedicate valuable time evaluating all of the content in order to determine which of it satisfies his particular interests.
For example, a very popular publication which caters to many professionals today is Forbes magazine. Forbes offers up to date and important content relating to the business world and can be a very valuable tool for today""s business person. A typical issue of Forbes consists of a table of contents displaying up to fifty articles containing over twenty thousand words dispersed over twenty broad categories of business. To help Forbes readers navigate this information, the magazine includes an index of companies and names. This index itself is often three or four pages long and lists several hundred names and companies which are included throughout the issue. It becomes obvious that the reader would have to spend a substantial amount of valuable time to locate preferred content either by carefully reviewing the index or table of contents, or scanning through the two hundred pages of the magazine. For example, if a reader wanted to find information on Bill Gates or Microsoft in a given issue of Forbes, he might find dozens of references for both the company and the person. Many of these references may be of little value while others might be more directly relevant. The index only provides the page numbers where the name or company, and typically does not describe what the article relates to or the content in which a name or company is mentioned.
Thus, while magazines provide an excellent source of information for a consumer, their practical utility is limited by the gross quantity of information they provide.
There have been various attempts made to solve this problem of information overload.
Abstract services are available which produce abstracts of magazine articles covering specific areas of interest to information consumers. These abstracts are distributed in accordance with reader profiles and are used to identify articles of likely interest to the consumer. Upon request, the reader may obtain full copies of the articles. Such services suffer, however, from the obvious drawback that access to the full article requires a separate time-consuming action and a positive effort on the part of the consumer.
At least one magazine, American Baby, attempts to include custom editorial matter. Profile data is collected from subscribers for the purpose of providing targeted content to individual subscribers. If, for example, a subscriber is identified as having a three-months old infant, then an article relevant to such an infant may be specially inserted into that subscriber""s magazine along with the standard content. The inclusion of that insert is noted on the cover.
Such a process suffers from the significant short-coming of not making it any easier to find other relevant articles in the magazine. The magazine still contains hundreds of pages of standard-content information that, as described above, contributes to the information overload of the reader.
Methods and systems consistent with the present invention allow subscribers to receive periodicals, such as magazines, for which custom indexes are provided. The indexes identify the standard printed content contained in the periodicals that match respective subscribers"" preferences. In this way, a subscriber can quickly identify whether such a periodical contains standard printed content of interest to him and what the standard printed content is, and where in the magazine it is located.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, a system consistent with this invention comprises a method of manufacturing a customized index for use with a periodical. The method comprises the steps of receiving personal preference data indicative of at least one content category of interest to a subscriber; receiving content data relating to the standard printed content of a periodical; comparing said content data with said personal preference data; generating index data based upon said comparison; and outputting a customized index containing said index data for use with said periodical. The customized index may be attached to a periodical, thereby providing a periodical having a customized index to standard content.
In another aspect, the invention comprises an index for use with a periodical to be delivered to a subscriber. The index is customized to identify standard printed content of interest to a subscriber according to preselected personal preferences indicative of at least one content category of interest to a subscriber, the identified standard printed content of interest being contained in the periodical.
Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.